Regulations on the Management of Research Funds in GTIIT

Chapter 1        General principles

Article 1          In order to further standardize and strengthen the management of research funds in GTIIT, improve the usage benefits of research funds, and fully arouse the initiative of all GTIIT faculties in participating scientific research, this regulation was formulated in accordance with “The Opinions on the Policy for the Improvement of Funds Management of Research Projects Supported by Central Government Finance” issued by Central Committee General Office and State Council, and “The Opinions on the Implementation of the Policies for the Improvement of Funds Management of Research Projects Supported by the Provincial Government Finance” issued by Guangdong Province.

Article 2          The research funds mentioned in this document can be divided into vertical, horizontal, and the other research funds. Of these funds,

1)      Vertical research funds refer to those supported by national, provincial, or municipal government finance and the research projects have been announced publicly, for which the applicants’ proposals and application materials have been reviewed and scored by anonymous peer reviewers.   

2)      Horizontal research funds refer to those obtained through entrustment from government offices in China, enterprises and institutions, and social organization inside and outside China.

3)      The other research funds refer to those from GTIIT (including the start-up fund), social donations, and the others that do not belong to the vertical or horizontal funds.

Article 3         Any research funds applied in the name of GTIIT must be managed by the Finance Office of GTIIT. Nobody shall be allowed to retain the research funds for his/her own use.  Nobody shall be allowed to undertake research projects privately taking advantage of the research equipment, instruments and staffs in GTIIT.

Article 4          A project leader should be responsible for the management of a research fund. He/she should undertake the economical responsibility and legal liability for the rationality, authenticity and effectiveness of fund expenditure. The institute shall comply with the provisions of the national, provincial, or municipal government in implementing the regulations in this document.

Chapter 2        The expenditure items and allocation of research funds

Article 5           The expenditure of vertical research funds includes direct and indirect costs. Expenditure of horizontal and the other research funds shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of contracts. All the cost of research funds shall comply with national provisions in relevant documents.

Article 6           The direct costs in vertical research funds refer to all costs incurred in the research process and directly related to the research aims, mainly include the following costs and the agreement with the regulations of the funding organizations:

1)      Equipment investment: Refers to the expenses for purchasing specialized instruments and equipment; upgrading, rebuilding, or maintaining the existing equipment; and leasing equipment that do not belong to GTIIT.

2)      Material costs: Refer to the expenses for purchasing experimental supplies for research, like essential raw materials, reagents, chemicals, supplementary materials, laboratory animals, plants, specimens, etc.

3)      Testing and processing costs: Refer to the expenses for testing, designing, analyzing and processing of experiment-related issues paid to external organizations  during the implementation period of the project.

4)      Fuel and power costs: Refer to the expenses for using water, electric, natural gas and fuel to run large-scale instruments or specific science equipment with a readable water and/or electric meter. For those instruments and specific equipment without a readable electric or water meter, and daily functioning expenses in the laboratory including water, electricity, gas, etc. the costs shall be covered by indirect costs, but not be listed in the fuel and power costs.

5)      Travel expenses: Refer to the expenses for the travel to nonlocal places to perform scientific experiments, carry out business investigation or academic communication during the implementation period of the project. The standards of the expenditures on travel expenses shall be in accordance with relevant “Staff Reimbursement Policy and Regulations” of GTIIT.

6)      Conference expenses: Refer to the expenses resulted from organizing, launching, or attending academic conferences relevant to the research project, including discussion, consulting, coordinating and other activities. The covered items include accommodation costs, dining costs, rentals for occupancy of field, etc. The standards of reimbursement should be in accordance with the relevant “Staff Reimbursement Policy and Regulations” of GTIIT.

7)      International collaboration and exchange costs: Refer to the expenses resulted from overseas travel of team members or foreign experts’ travel to China for international collaboration or academic exchange during the implementation period of the project.

8)      Publishing and printing, literature, information dissemination, and intellectual property issue expenses: Refer to expenses for publishing and printing research relevant documents, purchasing specific software, information retrieval, internet usage, professional communication, patent application, or other intellectual property, etc.

9)      Labor costs: Refer to the costs paid to undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and visiting scholars who take part in the research project or were hired for the research project as research assistants. The standards of the labor costs shall be in accordance with the average salary level of employees in local scientific institutes or technology service industry, and determined by the task undertaken by the personnel during the implementation period of the research project. The subsidies for social insurance shall be included in the labor costs. The budget of labor costs shall be prepared accurately by the undertaking institution of the project and the principal investigator (PI) of the research project.

10)     Expert consulting costs: Refer to the expenses paid to consultant experts for consulting, appraisal, or evaluation during the implementation period of the research project.  

11)     Data collection expenses: Refer to those resulted from questionnaire survey, interview, data purchase, data analysis, or technology service during the implementation period of the research project.

12)     Laboratory renovation costs: Refer to those resulted from the renovation of a laboratory to improve the experiment conditions of the supported research project.

13)     The other costs: Refer to those not mentioned in the above items. For vertical projects, the cost in this item should be in accordance with the administrative regulations of higher authorities; for horizontal research projects, it should be implemented according to the contract created for the research project. 

Article 7         The indirect costs in the vertical research funds refer to the expenses related to the implementation of the project but are not included in the direct costs. The indirect costs and management fees will be withdrawn from the research fund by the institute within the upper proportion limit regulated by “Temporary Provisions on the Management of Indirect Costs in Research Funds at GTIIT” and the money should be managed and used under the administration of the institute Finance Office. It would be mainly used to compensate the expenses paid for operating experimental instruments and equipment, or house improving, or for daily water, electricity, natural gas and heat consumption, allowance of administration fees, or performance awards to improve scientific research performance.

Chapter 3        The transfer of research funds

Article 8        Regulations on the transfer of scientific research funds

1)      The transfer of scientific research funds should be based on the budget or contract created for a research project and implemented in line with the budget lines, transferring methods, opening bank and account number. The PI of a research project should be responsible for the authenticity and pertinence of the business cooperation and require the fund-accepted organization to provide Certificate of Legal Person (or Business License for Enterprise Legal Person), Organization Code Certificate, Tax Registration Certificate and other qualification certificates.

2)      When transferring the money for collaboration, the PI of a research project must bring the approved budget of the project, the contract for research fund transfer in the name of GTIIT, valid receipts and the other necessary documents mentioned in the first item of this article to the financial department of GTIIT and other organizations. Multiple-level transfer, disguised transfer, transfer money for other usage in the name of research collaboration or transferring money to other organizations or individuals having interest conflict with the PI are forbidden.

3)      The PI of a research project should supervise the fund management of the sub-project(s) or cooperative partner. The sub-project principal must comply with the budget and contract in spending the research fund.

Article 9  Regulations on the shift of research funds: If a PI leaves GTIIT during the implementation period of his/her research project, he/she needs to go through the formalities for the change of supporting institution of the research project and the shift of remaining part of the research fund in accordance with regulations relevant to research fund management.

Chapter 4        The budget of research funds and management of budget implementation

Article 10        The budget of a research fund is the fundamental basis of the revenue and expenditure. The PI of a research fund should prepare the budget rationally and accurately based on the peculiarity and practical needs of the project according to the principles of target-relevancy, policy correspondence and economical plausibility.

Article 11        For research projects involving external collaborating institutions and led by a PI of GTIIT, the external sub-project principals should prepare the budget of his/her sub-project based on the assigned tasks and report to GTIIT for auditing and summarizing after checked and affixed with opinions by the research and financial departments therein. The PI of a research project should coordinate the budget preparations of external collaboration partners and be responsible for the budget preparation and modification of the partners.

Article 12        The spending of research funds should be executed strictly in accordance with the budget. If there is a need to adjust the budget of a project and the adjustment conforms to the relevant regulations on fund management, the PI of the project should apply for adjustment. After approved by his/her department head, the adjustment application should be reported to the Research and Innovation and Graduate Studies (RIGS) Office of GTIIT for audit, followed by the approval of theExecutive Pro-Vice Chancellor. The notice of adjustment approval will be passed to the Finance Office for the administration of the adjusted budget.

Article 13        The PI of a research fund is encouraged to simplify budgeting by combining the expenses for conference, travel, and international collaboration and exchange, and making overall arrangements for the expenditure of these items based on the practical needs and relevant regulations. If the sum of these three items is less than 10% of the direct costs in natural science project, or less than 20% in social science project, the PI does not need to provide the detailed rationale for the budget estimates.

Article 14        The indirect costs are not allowed to be adjusted whereas the budget of direct costs can be adjusted, if necessary, in accordance with the following regulations:

1）   If the total budget of a research project does not change, the costs for materials, testing and processing, fuel and power supply, publishing and printing, literature, information dissemination, and intellectual property affairs, and other expenses (excluding the costs for purchasing equipment, labor service, and expert consulting) can be adjusted according to the practical needs.

2）   The budget for purchasing equipment, labor service, and expert consulting can be   decreased to compensate for the increase of other expenditures.

3）   If new items need to be added into the original budget or extant items in the original budget need to be adjusted, the PI of a research project needs to apply for the adjustment which should be reviewed by the RIGS Office and endorsed by the Executive Pro-Vice Chancellor and then reported to the funding agency for approval.

Chapter 5        The management of entry and expenditure of funds in an account

Article 15        The research funds received in the name of GTIIT should be transferred to a bank account designated by the institution. As soon as a fund appears in the account, the RIGS Office of GTIIT shall confirm the information and notify the Finance Office of the fund arrival to set up the project and finish accounting procedures.

Article 16        Research funds (including itemized budget) must be used and managed by strictly following the requirements of the approved budget, the agreement on contract and relevant regulations of GTIIT.

Article 17        The management of indirect funds shall be implemented following the “The Temporary Provisions on the Management of Indirect Costs in Research Funds at GTIIT”.

Chapter 6        Final accounting and settle accounts

Article 18        The PI of a research project shall accurately formulate and submit the final accounts of the fund based on the income and expenditure records provided by the Finance Office of GTIIT, which shall be subjected to the auditing, checking, and accepting procedures.

Article 19        After concluding a research project, the PI shall have the account closed on time

Article 20        The regulations shall come into force as of the date of promulgation.

Article 21        The regulations shall be interpreted by RIGS Office.